Attention, Avatarists!

[NotAboutBalance]

Welcome, all avatarists! I, a humble...umm.....person, seek to discover your mighty art! Please, grant me the answer to the following question. How on earth do you do avatars?

Humblely yours,
NotAboutBalance

[[Insert Neat Username Here]]

Try here.
text.

[BRC]

Welcome, all avatarists! I, a humble...umm.....person, seek to discover your mighty art! Please, grant me the answer to the following question. How on earth do you do avatars?

Humblely yours,
NotAboutBalance

Magic.

Its true, I chant for abit, make some arcane runes on a piece of paper, imagine the avatar in my head, burn the paper and BOOM, instant avatar.

[NotAboutBalance]

Magic.

Its true, I chant for abit, make some arcane runes on a piece of paper, imagine the avatar in my head, burn the paper and BOOM, instant avatar.

Wow. That was so useful.

And [Insert Neat Username Here], I, unfortunately, can make absolutely no sense out of that link. But I'll figure it out eventually!

[Serpentine]

Step 1: Pick a program.
Step 2: Scribble.
Step 3: Examine the Giant's work.
Step 4: Scribble some more.
Step 5: Give up, and look for one of the How To guides on here.
Step 6: Scribble some more, but better this time.
Step 7: Practice.
Step 8: Take on some requests, but just for practice.
Step 9: Tentatively take on a request for real. Get shot down.
Step 10: Practice.
Step 11: Tentatively take on another request for real. Get asked for changes. Panic.
Step 12: Get a request approximately right.
Step 13+: Take on more requests. Get better. Rock on.

[yoshi927]

Wow. That was so useful.

Seriously. You should try it. It only takes a few minutes... and your soul!!!!


But, seriously, it's a matter of practice. Anyone can do the basic stuff, but it takes a while to figure it out. Even the best avatarists around (a group which I am by no means a member of) are always getting better.

Overall advice, get Inkscape or Sodipodli and crack open a few how-to guides. Serpentine's right about the overall progression. If you don't want to get shot down, try making a webcomic in the style instead. You won't get shot down, it's just that nobody will read it.

[Lyinginbedmon]

Step 1: Pick a program.
Step 2: Scribble.
Step 3: Examine the Giant's work.
Step 4: Scribble some more.
Step 5: Give up, and look for one of the How To guides on here.
Step 6: Scribble some more, but better this time.
Step 7: Practice.
Step 8: Take on some requests, but just for practice.
Step 9: Tentatively take on a request for real. Get shot down.
Step 10: Practice.
Step 11: Tentatively take on another request for real. Get asked for changes. Panic.
Step 12: Get a request approximately right.
Step 13+: Take on more requests. Get better. Rock on.

Something like this, but "requests" can be substituted with individual projects, which is largely how my work has progressed, through things like the Lying VS Threeshades trilogy and Remember

[Serpentine]

Speaking of always getting better, nearly every time I use Illustrator I discover something new. It usually involves my going "Argh! I wish it did this!" and then discovering that it can.

[Mr_Saturn]

Illustrator has too many functions, don't use it.

[Sneak]

...

...

...

It's all in the gnomes.

[kirbsys]

Shhh.... you said the Gnomes would be a secret between us.... You betrayed my trust!!!

[Sneak]

And thou shalt not betray the sacred trust of the gnomes. Yes, this includes not telling other people about us. If you do, we will give thine ass a kicking. Thou hast been warned.
—Gnomish Avatarmaking, 1:12

I have sinned.

Forgive me, Kirbsys.

[Vulion]

Practice, both the method of your avatar making and your program, knowing your program helps a LOT.

[boomwolf]

Cheat.
Put another picture below yours for reference, draw over it, then delete the reference picture.
Naturally you won't draw the very same thing. but it will help you get scales right.

[Wolfman42666]

Cheat.
Put another picture below yours for reference, draw over it, then delete the reference picture.
Naturally you won't draw the very same thing. but it will help you get scales right.

Boomwolf's artwork is better than mine, I admit this freely, but no one likes it when you do this, plus most avatarist's have a very distinctive style, if you trace over someone else's you won't develop your own.

In the ABR I usually look at either how that person drew their avatar or how someone who's artwork looks wonderful drew them.
I then recreate this without use of copy and paste, just using my eyes.
Viola, for avatar requests, I give that a miss myself, But serpentine's artwork is trully awesome *bows*

[DarkCorax]

Reading Tutorials (they are very useful, you most likely won't get very far without using one at some point), like the one linked to, then it is just practicing and listening to the advice people give you, I have improved alot since I first began making avatars, it is basically just down to practice and learning from others and your mistakes.

And boomwolf, you probably shouldn't copy over other peoples work, it runs rather close to plagerism.

[Ego Slayer]

It's only plagiarism if we don't know about it.
No, seriously... It's not a bad idea, just... have your reference picture next to what you're drawing, copying it from looking and not tracing (you learn better that way). It is a very good way to learn proportions and such. It's best if you grab and redraw a character from the comic and not something from our resident avatarists. You'll develop a style, like the rest of us.

We've got tutorials for everything.

[Artemician]

Boomwolf's artwork is better than mine, I admit this freely, but no one likes it when you do this, plus most avatarist's have a very distinctive style, if you trace over someone else's you won't develop your own.

Indeed. A work of art from say.. Dr Bath is very different from a work from Sneak, even if they may be drawing the same subject matter.

You have to experiment and come up with your own way of doing things. In art, as with all things, there are no shortcuts.

[DarkCorax]

It's only plagiarism if we don't know about it.
No, seriously... It's not a bad idea, just... have your reference picture next to what you're drawing, copying it from looking and not tracing (you learn better that way). It is a very good way to learn proportions and such. It's best if you grab and redraw a character from the comic and not something from our resident avatarists. You'll develop a style, like the rest of us.

We've got tutorials for everything.

Thats what I do, I have the reference picture imported into the document to look at.

Tutorial for making avatars in movie maker?

[Ego Slayer]

Tutorial for making avatars in movie maker?

I'll get right on it.

[The_Chilli_God]

Step 0: Obtain immortality.
Step 1: Pick a program.
Step 2: Scribble.
Step 3: Examine the Giant's work.
Step 4: Scribble some more.
Step 5: Give up, and look for one of the How To guides on here.
Step Q: Add two teaspoons of salt.
Step 6: Scribble some more, but better this time.
Step 7: Practice.
Step 8: Take on some requests, but just for practice.
Step 9: Tentatively take on a request for real. Get shot down.
Step 10: Practice.
Step Dennis: Try and make avatars for your friends. Whether they requested them or not.
Step Dennis+1: Change the program you use, realize that you suddenly improved by 200%
Step 11: Tentatively take on another request for real. Get asked for changes. Panic.
Step 3: Examine the Giant's work.
Step 12: Get a request approximately right.
Step 13+: Take on more requests. Get better. Rock on.

Everybody does it differently, after all. It might have an influence on what your style looks like.

[Keris]

I will acheive Step 0, or die trying! Also, are there any tutorials for Macromedia Fireworks?

[Dallas-Dakota]

Step 0 : Hide your soul, or sell it for a very high price, it gets stolen here anyway.
Step Gandhi : Ignore all the people who flame you, meditate and liiiiiiiiistteeeenn toooo theeee biiiirds, yesprettybirds,prettybirdsys.......
Step 0.9(0.1 till 0.8 got sad and left us, they followed the lights, may they be remembered for two days) : Dont follow us....We's dont likes stalkers...
Step 1: Look at the Giants art.
Step 2 : Use paint, Here is where some of us divide, decide if A you are to lazy and stubborn to get another program and contineu using paint, -7.34% chance of becoming a great artist, however if you reach the elder group of awesome artists, you will get 3 automatic points towards becoming an Avatarist god(dess) or B get another program and have +18.82% chance of becoming a good artist.
Step 3: Scribble.
Step 4: Examine the Giant's work.
Step 5: Scribble some more.
Step 6: Give up, and look for one of the How To guides on here.
Step 7: Scribble some more, but better layering your art this time.
Step 8: Practice.
Step 9: Take on some requests, but just for practice.
Step 10: Tentatively take on a request for real. Get shot down.
Step 11: Practice.
Step 12.0: Tentatively take on another request for real. Get shot down. Again.
Step 12.1 Repeat step 11.0 for another three times.
Step 12.2 Get the art right the last time, see reqeusts for changes, comply
Step 13: Look at the Giants art, not the text.
Step Watch : Look at somebody's other style IF you have developed your own.
Step 13+: Take on more requests. Get better. Rock on. Get cookies!

My schedule, I have chosen A

[Crimmy]

I will acheive Step 0, or die trying! Also, are there any tutorials for Macromedia Fireworks?

i used to work in fireworks, but the art looks blurry, or pixelated, so it's not the best to use

i prefer

iNKSCAPE

[Nameless]

I use fireworks... I finde it easier then Inkscape as it's similar to flash
<- not this avatar

[Lyinginbedmon]

Yes, that particular avatar was made by me during the period I refer to as the "Gates Age" with Paint

[Nameless]

Yes, that particular avatar was made by me during the period I refer to as the "Gates Age" with Paint

It's pretty darn awesome for paint Bedmon...

[Dispozition]

Ok...Here's what I did, not that it will make you a good artist or anything, 'cause I suck :P

1: download sodipodi and all that stuff to make it work
2: Look at the tutorial for sodipodi in that thread that was posted earlier.
3: DRAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4: draw some more, post results in oots art showcase. Surprisingly enough, we do help newbies from time to time.
5: Just practice...You will get better and you will develop a style.
6: ...There is no step 6
7: If I catch you not drinking beer, so help you, I will come over there and do something about it!

[Serpentine]

Boomwolf's artwork is better than mine, I admit this freely, but no one likes it when you do this, plus most avatarist's have a very distinctive style, if you trace over someone else's you won't develop your own.

I don't mind it just as practice for getting the hang of proportions, though if you wanted to get as close as possible to the Giant's style you'd be best using his art to practice on, not an avatarist (I'd be happy enough to let someone use mine, but I'm still getting the proportions right so you'd just end up getting skewed). As long as you're not just copying it and then claiming it as your own, but using it as a guide, it should be fine.

But serpentine's artwork is trully awesome *bows*

[Dallas-Dakota]

7: If I catch you not drinking beer, so help you, I will come over there and do something about it!

I didn't drink tha beer............